Welcome to 15 Questions With…, a new interview series in which art writer Gary Grimes picks the brains of artists, curators and other creatives to understand what makes them tick through a series of quick-fire questions. This series aims to showcase the varying approaches creatives take to making art and how their relationships to the so-called art world differ, but also reveal what unites those responsible for the art we love.
Maya Gurung-Russell Campbell, born in 2000, lives and works in London and is currently studying at the Royal Academy Schools, graduating in 2026. She holds a BA in Photography from the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, and is a graduate of the Radical Film School. Working across sculpture, image, and text, her practice engages with both national and intimate forms of memory, tracing dominant yet fragile power structures that initially appear Immovable.
She was selected for Bloomberg's New Contemporaries in 2021 and had her first solo show, Folklore Imaginary, at 87 Gallery in 2022, which was supported by UAL's Mead Award (2022 – 2023). Last month, she unveiled a new solo exhibition entitled ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator in London.
1. What is your earliest memory of a work of art?
I was mainly taken to museums as a child and was obsessed with the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. So it would probably be the birthstones in the minerals section, or the crystals that my grandmother would hover her hands over to “absorb the energy.”
2. Where do you turn to when you’re in need of inspiration?
Books and music. I go to see a lot of live improvised music in different places around London, and I am constantly reading fiction.
3. What do you like to do when you need to take a break from your practice?
Normal things that tend to get neglected when in the midst of making work: sleeping well, eating well, going for walks, and going dancing with friends.
4. Who is your favourite artist?
Magdalena Abakanowicz.
5. What’s the biggest crime an artist can commit?
Forgetting what it’s all really about.
5. Which gallery or museum should everyone try to visit at least once in their life?
The Sistine Chapel.
6. What is the worst thing about the art world?
I think there are a lot of different art worlds, and it’s a problem when people think theirs is the only one that exists.
7. Whose opinions on art do you actually care about?
Mainly my own, but I enjoy hearing what friends and family think.
8. What trend in art makes you roll your eyes?
Hyperrealism.
9. Who are the last three musical artists you listened to?
Gillian Welch, Whitney Houston, Fleetwood Mac.
10. What’s your favourite colour and why?
The brown-orange of drying leaves at this time of year is so beautiful.
11. What three items would you grab if your house was burning down?
Phone, photo albums and one of my grandma’s paintings.
12. What can you tell us about your show ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator?
‘I Want to Be Ready’ takes national symbols of authority and power, seeking to destruct and transform them through the acts of knotting and tearing. This simple gesture of the double knot is repeated throughout the show, a sign that transformation can occur when a basic gesture is enacted again and again.
13. Which piece in the show took the longest to perfect and why?
The wet collodion tintypes are quite laborious to make, as I go to make them in a photography studio in West London, and there is always an alchemical element of surprise in relation to how the image comes out.
15. What impression do you hope people get after seeing your show?
I hope people connect it to what is happening in the UK at the moment and reflect on not only their relationship to these symbols, but also what these symbols mean to different marginalised communities across the country.
Welcome to 15 Questions With…, a new interview series in which art writer Gary Grimes picks the brains of artists, curators and other creatives to understand what makes them tick through a series of quick-fire questions. This series aims to showcase the varying approaches creatives take to making art and how their relationships to the so-called art world differ, but also reveal what unites those responsible for the art we love.
Maya Gurung-Russell Campbell, born in 2000, lives and works in London and is currently studying at the Royal Academy Schools, graduating in 2026. She holds a BA in Photography from the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, and is a graduate of the Radical Film School. Working across sculpture, image, and text, her practice engages with both national and intimate forms of memory, tracing dominant yet fragile power structures that initially appear Immovable.
She was selected for Bloomberg's New Contemporaries in 2021 and had her first solo show, Folklore Imaginary, at 87 Gallery in 2022, which was supported by UAL's Mead Award (2022 – 2023). Last month, she unveiled a new solo exhibition entitled ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator in London.
1. What is your earliest memory of a work of art?
I was mainly taken to museums as a child and was obsessed with the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. So it would probably be the birthstones in the minerals section, or the crystals that my grandmother would hover her hands over to “absorb the energy.”
2. Where do you turn to when you’re in need of inspiration?
Books and music. I go to see a lot of live improvised music in different places around London, and I am constantly reading fiction.
3. What do you like to do when you need to take a break from your practice?
Normal things that tend to get neglected when in the midst of making work: sleeping well, eating well, going for walks, and going dancing with friends.
4. Who is your favourite artist?
Magdalena Abakanowicz.
5. What’s the biggest crime an artist can commit?
Forgetting what it’s all really about.
5. Which gallery or museum should everyone try to visit at least once in their life?
The Sistine Chapel.
6. What is the worst thing about the art world?
I think there are a lot of different art worlds, and it’s a problem when people think theirs is the only one that exists.
7. Whose opinions on art do you actually care about?
Mainly my own, but I enjoy hearing what friends and family think.
8. What trend in art makes you roll your eyes?
Hyperrealism.
9. Who are the last three musical artists you listened to?
Gillian Welch, Whitney Houston, Fleetwood Mac.
10. What’s your favourite colour and why?
The brown-orange of drying leaves at this time of year is so beautiful.
11. What three items would you grab if your house was burning down?
Phone, photo albums and one of my grandma’s paintings.
12. What can you tell us about your show ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator?
‘I Want to Be Ready’ takes national symbols of authority and power, seeking to destruct and transform them through the acts of knotting and tearing. This simple gesture of the double knot is repeated throughout the show, a sign that transformation can occur when a basic gesture is enacted again and again.
13. Which piece in the show took the longest to perfect and why?
The wet collodion tintypes are quite laborious to make, as I go to make them in a photography studio in West London, and there is always an alchemical element of surprise in relation to how the image comes out.
15. What impression do you hope people get after seeing your show?
I hope people connect it to what is happening in the UK at the moment and reflect on not only their relationship to these symbols, but also what these symbols mean to different marginalised communities across the country.
Welcome to 15 Questions With…, a new interview series in which art writer Gary Grimes picks the brains of artists, curators and other creatives to understand what makes them tick through a series of quick-fire questions. This series aims to showcase the varying approaches creatives take to making art and how their relationships to the so-called art world differ, but also reveal what unites those responsible for the art we love.
Maya Gurung-Russell Campbell, born in 2000, lives and works in London and is currently studying at the Royal Academy Schools, graduating in 2026. She holds a BA in Photography from the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, and is a graduate of the Radical Film School. Working across sculpture, image, and text, her practice engages with both national and intimate forms of memory, tracing dominant yet fragile power structures that initially appear Immovable.
She was selected for Bloomberg's New Contemporaries in 2021 and had her first solo show, Folklore Imaginary, at 87 Gallery in 2022, which was supported by UAL's Mead Award (2022 – 2023). Last month, she unveiled a new solo exhibition entitled ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator in London.
1. What is your earliest memory of a work of art?
I was mainly taken to museums as a child and was obsessed with the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. So it would probably be the birthstones in the minerals section, or the crystals that my grandmother would hover her hands over to “absorb the energy.”
2. Where do you turn to when you’re in need of inspiration?
Books and music. I go to see a lot of live improvised music in different places around London, and I am constantly reading fiction.
3. What do you like to do when you need to take a break from your practice?
Normal things that tend to get neglected when in the midst of making work: sleeping well, eating well, going for walks, and going dancing with friends.
4. Who is your favourite artist?
Magdalena Abakanowicz.
5. What’s the biggest crime an artist can commit?
Forgetting what it’s all really about.
5. Which gallery or museum should everyone try to visit at least once in their life?
The Sistine Chapel.
6. What is the worst thing about the art world?
I think there are a lot of different art worlds, and it’s a problem when people think theirs is the only one that exists.
7. Whose opinions on art do you actually care about?
Mainly my own, but I enjoy hearing what friends and family think.
8. What trend in art makes you roll your eyes?
Hyperrealism.
9. Who are the last three musical artists you listened to?
Gillian Welch, Whitney Houston, Fleetwood Mac.
10. What’s your favourite colour and why?
The brown-orange of drying leaves at this time of year is so beautiful.
11. What three items would you grab if your house was burning down?
Phone, photo albums and one of my grandma’s paintings.
12. What can you tell us about your show ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator?
‘I Want to Be Ready’ takes national symbols of authority and power, seeking to destruct and transform them through the acts of knotting and tearing. This simple gesture of the double knot is repeated throughout the show, a sign that transformation can occur when a basic gesture is enacted again and again.
13. Which piece in the show took the longest to perfect and why?
The wet collodion tintypes are quite laborious to make, as I go to make them in a photography studio in West London, and there is always an alchemical element of surprise in relation to how the image comes out.
15. What impression do you hope people get after seeing your show?
I hope people connect it to what is happening in the UK at the moment and reflect on not only their relationship to these symbols, but also what these symbols mean to different marginalised communities across the country.
Welcome to 15 Questions With…, a new interview series in which art writer Gary Grimes picks the brains of artists, curators and other creatives to understand what makes them tick through a series of quick-fire questions. This series aims to showcase the varying approaches creatives take to making art and how their relationships to the so-called art world differ, but also reveal what unites those responsible for the art we love.
Maya Gurung-Russell Campbell, born in 2000, lives and works in London and is currently studying at the Royal Academy Schools, graduating in 2026. She holds a BA in Photography from the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, and is a graduate of the Radical Film School. Working across sculpture, image, and text, her practice engages with both national and intimate forms of memory, tracing dominant yet fragile power structures that initially appear Immovable.
She was selected for Bloomberg's New Contemporaries in 2021 and had her first solo show, Folklore Imaginary, at 87 Gallery in 2022, which was supported by UAL's Mead Award (2022 – 2023). Last month, she unveiled a new solo exhibition entitled ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator in London.
1. What is your earliest memory of a work of art?
I was mainly taken to museums as a child and was obsessed with the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. So it would probably be the birthstones in the minerals section, or the crystals that my grandmother would hover her hands over to “absorb the energy.”
2. Where do you turn to when you’re in need of inspiration?
Books and music. I go to see a lot of live improvised music in different places around London, and I am constantly reading fiction.
3. What do you like to do when you need to take a break from your practice?
Normal things that tend to get neglected when in the midst of making work: sleeping well, eating well, going for walks, and going dancing with friends.
4. Who is your favourite artist?
Magdalena Abakanowicz.
5. What’s the biggest crime an artist can commit?
Forgetting what it’s all really about.
5. Which gallery or museum should everyone try to visit at least once in their life?
The Sistine Chapel.
6. What is the worst thing about the art world?
I think there are a lot of different art worlds, and it’s a problem when people think theirs is the only one that exists.
7. Whose opinions on art do you actually care about?
Mainly my own, but I enjoy hearing what friends and family think.
8. What trend in art makes you roll your eyes?
Hyperrealism.
9. Who are the last three musical artists you listened to?
Gillian Welch, Whitney Houston, Fleetwood Mac.
10. What’s your favourite colour and why?
The brown-orange of drying leaves at this time of year is so beautiful.
11. What three items would you grab if your house was burning down?
Phone, photo albums and one of my grandma’s paintings.
12. What can you tell us about your show ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator?
‘I Want to Be Ready’ takes national symbols of authority and power, seeking to destruct and transform them through the acts of knotting and tearing. This simple gesture of the double knot is repeated throughout the show, a sign that transformation can occur when a basic gesture is enacted again and again.
13. Which piece in the show took the longest to perfect and why?
The wet collodion tintypes are quite laborious to make, as I go to make them in a photography studio in West London, and there is always an alchemical element of surprise in relation to how the image comes out.
15. What impression do you hope people get after seeing your show?
I hope people connect it to what is happening in the UK at the moment and reflect on not only their relationship to these symbols, but also what these symbols mean to different marginalised communities across the country.
Welcome to 15 Questions With…, a new interview series in which art writer Gary Grimes picks the brains of artists, curators and other creatives to understand what makes them tick through a series of quick-fire questions. This series aims to showcase the varying approaches creatives take to making art and how their relationships to the so-called art world differ, but also reveal what unites those responsible for the art we love.
Maya Gurung-Russell Campbell, born in 2000, lives and works in London and is currently studying at the Royal Academy Schools, graduating in 2026. She holds a BA in Photography from the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, and is a graduate of the Radical Film School. Working across sculpture, image, and text, her practice engages with both national and intimate forms of memory, tracing dominant yet fragile power structures that initially appear Immovable.
She was selected for Bloomberg's New Contemporaries in 2021 and had her first solo show, Folklore Imaginary, at 87 Gallery in 2022, which was supported by UAL's Mead Award (2022 – 2023). Last month, she unveiled a new solo exhibition entitled ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator in London.
1. What is your earliest memory of a work of art?
I was mainly taken to museums as a child and was obsessed with the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. So it would probably be the birthstones in the minerals section, or the crystals that my grandmother would hover her hands over to “absorb the energy.”
2. Where do you turn to when you’re in need of inspiration?
Books and music. I go to see a lot of live improvised music in different places around London, and I am constantly reading fiction.
3. What do you like to do when you need to take a break from your practice?
Normal things that tend to get neglected when in the midst of making work: sleeping well, eating well, going for walks, and going dancing with friends.
4. Who is your favourite artist?
Magdalena Abakanowicz.
5. What’s the biggest crime an artist can commit?
Forgetting what it’s all really about.
5. Which gallery or museum should everyone try to visit at least once in their life?
The Sistine Chapel.
6. What is the worst thing about the art world?
I think there are a lot of different art worlds, and it’s a problem when people think theirs is the only one that exists.
7. Whose opinions on art do you actually care about?
Mainly my own, but I enjoy hearing what friends and family think.
8. What trend in art makes you roll your eyes?
Hyperrealism.
9. Who are the last three musical artists you listened to?
Gillian Welch, Whitney Houston, Fleetwood Mac.
10. What’s your favourite colour and why?
The brown-orange of drying leaves at this time of year is so beautiful.
11. What three items would you grab if your house was burning down?
Phone, photo albums and one of my grandma’s paintings.
12. What can you tell us about your show ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator?
‘I Want to Be Ready’ takes national symbols of authority and power, seeking to destruct and transform them through the acts of knotting and tearing. This simple gesture of the double knot is repeated throughout the show, a sign that transformation can occur when a basic gesture is enacted again and again.
13. Which piece in the show took the longest to perfect and why?
The wet collodion tintypes are quite laborious to make, as I go to make them in a photography studio in West London, and there is always an alchemical element of surprise in relation to how the image comes out.
15. What impression do you hope people get after seeing your show?
I hope people connect it to what is happening in the UK at the moment and reflect on not only their relationship to these symbols, but also what these symbols mean to different marginalised communities across the country.
Welcome to 15 Questions With…, a new interview series in which art writer Gary Grimes picks the brains of artists, curators and other creatives to understand what makes them tick through a series of quick-fire questions. This series aims to showcase the varying approaches creatives take to making art and how their relationships to the so-called art world differ, but also reveal what unites those responsible for the art we love.
Maya Gurung-Russell Campbell, born in 2000, lives and works in London and is currently studying at the Royal Academy Schools, graduating in 2026. She holds a BA in Photography from the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, and is a graduate of the Radical Film School. Working across sculpture, image, and text, her practice engages with both national and intimate forms of memory, tracing dominant yet fragile power structures that initially appear Immovable.
She was selected for Bloomberg's New Contemporaries in 2021 and had her first solo show, Folklore Imaginary, at 87 Gallery in 2022, which was supported by UAL's Mead Award (2022 – 2023). Last month, she unveiled a new solo exhibition entitled ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator in London.
1. What is your earliest memory of a work of art?
I was mainly taken to museums as a child and was obsessed with the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. So it would probably be the birthstones in the minerals section, or the crystals that my grandmother would hover her hands over to “absorb the energy.”
2. Where do you turn to when you’re in need of inspiration?
Books and music. I go to see a lot of live improvised music in different places around London, and I am constantly reading fiction.
3. What do you like to do when you need to take a break from your practice?
Normal things that tend to get neglected when in the midst of making work: sleeping well, eating well, going for walks, and going dancing with friends.
4. Who is your favourite artist?
Magdalena Abakanowicz.
5. What’s the biggest crime an artist can commit?
Forgetting what it’s all really about.
5. Which gallery or museum should everyone try to visit at least once in their life?
The Sistine Chapel.
6. What is the worst thing about the art world?
I think there are a lot of different art worlds, and it’s a problem when people think theirs is the only one that exists.
7. Whose opinions on art do you actually care about?
Mainly my own, but I enjoy hearing what friends and family think.
8. What trend in art makes you roll your eyes?
Hyperrealism.
9. Who are the last three musical artists you listened to?
Gillian Welch, Whitney Houston, Fleetwood Mac.
10. What’s your favourite colour and why?
The brown-orange of drying leaves at this time of year is so beautiful.
11. What three items would you grab if your house was burning down?
Phone, photo albums and one of my grandma’s paintings.
12. What can you tell us about your show ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator?
‘I Want to Be Ready’ takes national symbols of authority and power, seeking to destruct and transform them through the acts of knotting and tearing. This simple gesture of the double knot is repeated throughout the show, a sign that transformation can occur when a basic gesture is enacted again and again.
13. Which piece in the show took the longest to perfect and why?
The wet collodion tintypes are quite laborious to make, as I go to make them in a photography studio in West London, and there is always an alchemical element of surprise in relation to how the image comes out.
15. What impression do you hope people get after seeing your show?
I hope people connect it to what is happening in the UK at the moment and reflect on not only their relationship to these symbols, but also what these symbols mean to different marginalised communities across the country.
Welcome to 15 Questions With…, a new interview series in which art writer Gary Grimes picks the brains of artists, curators and other creatives to understand what makes them tick through a series of quick-fire questions. This series aims to showcase the varying approaches creatives take to making art and how their relationships to the so-called art world differ, but also reveal what unites those responsible for the art we love.
Maya Gurung-Russell Campbell, born in 2000, lives and works in London and is currently studying at the Royal Academy Schools, graduating in 2026. She holds a BA in Photography from the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, and is a graduate of the Radical Film School. Working across sculpture, image, and text, her practice engages with both national and intimate forms of memory, tracing dominant yet fragile power structures that initially appear Immovable.
She was selected for Bloomberg's New Contemporaries in 2021 and had her first solo show, Folklore Imaginary, at 87 Gallery in 2022, which was supported by UAL's Mead Award (2022 – 2023). Last month, she unveiled a new solo exhibition entitled ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator in London.
1. What is your earliest memory of a work of art?
I was mainly taken to museums as a child and was obsessed with the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. So it would probably be the birthstones in the minerals section, or the crystals that my grandmother would hover her hands over to “absorb the energy.”
2. Where do you turn to when you’re in need of inspiration?
Books and music. I go to see a lot of live improvised music in different places around London, and I am constantly reading fiction.
3. What do you like to do when you need to take a break from your practice?
Normal things that tend to get neglected when in the midst of making work: sleeping well, eating well, going for walks, and going dancing with friends.
4. Who is your favourite artist?
Magdalena Abakanowicz.
5. What’s the biggest crime an artist can commit?
Forgetting what it’s all really about.
5. Which gallery or museum should everyone try to visit at least once in their life?
The Sistine Chapel.
6. What is the worst thing about the art world?
I think there are a lot of different art worlds, and it’s a problem when people think theirs is the only one that exists.
7. Whose opinions on art do you actually care about?
Mainly my own, but I enjoy hearing what friends and family think.
8. What trend in art makes you roll your eyes?
Hyperrealism.
9. Who are the last three musical artists you listened to?
Gillian Welch, Whitney Houston, Fleetwood Mac.
10. What’s your favourite colour and why?
The brown-orange of drying leaves at this time of year is so beautiful.
11. What three items would you grab if your house was burning down?
Phone, photo albums and one of my grandma’s paintings.
12. What can you tell us about your show ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator?
‘I Want to Be Ready’ takes national symbols of authority and power, seeking to destruct and transform them through the acts of knotting and tearing. This simple gesture of the double knot is repeated throughout the show, a sign that transformation can occur when a basic gesture is enacted again and again.
13. Which piece in the show took the longest to perfect and why?
The wet collodion tintypes are quite laborious to make, as I go to make them in a photography studio in West London, and there is always an alchemical element of surprise in relation to how the image comes out.
15. What impression do you hope people get after seeing your show?
I hope people connect it to what is happening in the UK at the moment and reflect on not only their relationship to these symbols, but also what these symbols mean to different marginalised communities across the country.
Welcome to 15 Questions With…, a new interview series in which art writer Gary Grimes picks the brains of artists, curators and other creatives to understand what makes them tick through a series of quick-fire questions. This series aims to showcase the varying approaches creatives take to making art and how their relationships to the so-called art world differ, but also reveal what unites those responsible for the art we love.
Maya Gurung-Russell Campbell, born in 2000, lives and works in London and is currently studying at the Royal Academy Schools, graduating in 2026. She holds a BA in Photography from the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, and is a graduate of the Radical Film School. Working across sculpture, image, and text, her practice engages with both national and intimate forms of memory, tracing dominant yet fragile power structures that initially appear Immovable.
She was selected for Bloomberg's New Contemporaries in 2021 and had her first solo show, Folklore Imaginary, at 87 Gallery in 2022, which was supported by UAL's Mead Award (2022 – 2023). Last month, she unveiled a new solo exhibition entitled ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator in London.
1. What is your earliest memory of a work of art?
I was mainly taken to museums as a child and was obsessed with the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. So it would probably be the birthstones in the minerals section, or the crystals that my grandmother would hover her hands over to “absorb the energy.”
2. Where do you turn to when you’re in need of inspiration?
Books and music. I go to see a lot of live improvised music in different places around London, and I am constantly reading fiction.
3. What do you like to do when you need to take a break from your practice?
Normal things that tend to get neglected when in the midst of making work: sleeping well, eating well, going for walks, and going dancing with friends.
4. Who is your favourite artist?
Magdalena Abakanowicz.
5. What’s the biggest crime an artist can commit?
Forgetting what it’s all really about.
5. Which gallery or museum should everyone try to visit at least once in their life?
The Sistine Chapel.
6. What is the worst thing about the art world?
I think there are a lot of different art worlds, and it’s a problem when people think theirs is the only one that exists.
7. Whose opinions on art do you actually care about?
Mainly my own, but I enjoy hearing what friends and family think.
8. What trend in art makes you roll your eyes?
Hyperrealism.
9. Who are the last three musical artists you listened to?
Gillian Welch, Whitney Houston, Fleetwood Mac.
10. What’s your favourite colour and why?
The brown-orange of drying leaves at this time of year is so beautiful.
11. What three items would you grab if your house was burning down?
Phone, photo albums and one of my grandma’s paintings.
12. What can you tell us about your show ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator?
‘I Want to Be Ready’ takes national symbols of authority and power, seeking to destruct and transform them through the acts of knotting and tearing. This simple gesture of the double knot is repeated throughout the show, a sign that transformation can occur when a basic gesture is enacted again and again.
13. Which piece in the show took the longest to perfect and why?
The wet collodion tintypes are quite laborious to make, as I go to make them in a photography studio in West London, and there is always an alchemical element of surprise in relation to how the image comes out.
15. What impression do you hope people get after seeing your show?
I hope people connect it to what is happening in the UK at the moment and reflect on not only their relationship to these symbols, but also what these symbols mean to different marginalised communities across the country.
Welcome to 15 Questions With…, a new interview series in which art writer Gary Grimes picks the brains of artists, curators and other creatives to understand what makes them tick through a series of quick-fire questions. This series aims to showcase the varying approaches creatives take to making art and how their relationships to the so-called art world differ, but also reveal what unites those responsible for the art we love.
Maya Gurung-Russell Campbell, born in 2000, lives and works in London and is currently studying at the Royal Academy Schools, graduating in 2026. She holds a BA in Photography from the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, and is a graduate of the Radical Film School. Working across sculpture, image, and text, her practice engages with both national and intimate forms of memory, tracing dominant yet fragile power structures that initially appear Immovable.
She was selected for Bloomberg's New Contemporaries in 2021 and had her first solo show, Folklore Imaginary, at 87 Gallery in 2022, which was supported by UAL's Mead Award (2022 – 2023). Last month, she unveiled a new solo exhibition entitled ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator in London.
1. What is your earliest memory of a work of art?
I was mainly taken to museums as a child and was obsessed with the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. So it would probably be the birthstones in the minerals section, or the crystals that my grandmother would hover her hands over to “absorb the energy.”
2. Where do you turn to when you’re in need of inspiration?
Books and music. I go to see a lot of live improvised music in different places around London, and I am constantly reading fiction.
3. What do you like to do when you need to take a break from your practice?
Normal things that tend to get neglected when in the midst of making work: sleeping well, eating well, going for walks, and going dancing with friends.
4. Who is your favourite artist?
Magdalena Abakanowicz.
5. What’s the biggest crime an artist can commit?
Forgetting what it’s all really about.
5. Which gallery or museum should everyone try to visit at least once in their life?
The Sistine Chapel.
6. What is the worst thing about the art world?
I think there are a lot of different art worlds, and it’s a problem when people think theirs is the only one that exists.
7. Whose opinions on art do you actually care about?
Mainly my own, but I enjoy hearing what friends and family think.
8. What trend in art makes you roll your eyes?
Hyperrealism.
9. Who are the last three musical artists you listened to?
Gillian Welch, Whitney Houston, Fleetwood Mac.
10. What’s your favourite colour and why?
The brown-orange of drying leaves at this time of year is so beautiful.
11. What three items would you grab if your house was burning down?
Phone, photo albums and one of my grandma’s paintings.
12. What can you tell us about your show ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator?
‘I Want to Be Ready’ takes national symbols of authority and power, seeking to destruct and transform them through the acts of knotting and tearing. This simple gesture of the double knot is repeated throughout the show, a sign that transformation can occur when a basic gesture is enacted again and again.
13. Which piece in the show took the longest to perfect and why?
The wet collodion tintypes are quite laborious to make, as I go to make them in a photography studio in West London, and there is always an alchemical element of surprise in relation to how the image comes out.
15. What impression do you hope people get after seeing your show?
I hope people connect it to what is happening in the UK at the moment and reflect on not only their relationship to these symbols, but also what these symbols mean to different marginalised communities across the country.
Welcome to 15 Questions With…, a new interview series in which art writer Gary Grimes picks the brains of artists, curators and other creatives to understand what makes them tick through a series of quick-fire questions. This series aims to showcase the varying approaches creatives take to making art and how their relationships to the so-called art world differ, but also reveal what unites those responsible for the art we love.
Maya Gurung-Russell Campbell, born in 2000, lives and works in London and is currently studying at the Royal Academy Schools, graduating in 2026. She holds a BA in Photography from the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, and is a graduate of the Radical Film School. Working across sculpture, image, and text, her practice engages with both national and intimate forms of memory, tracing dominant yet fragile power structures that initially appear Immovable.
She was selected for Bloomberg's New Contemporaries in 2021 and had her first solo show, Folklore Imaginary, at 87 Gallery in 2022, which was supported by UAL's Mead Award (2022 – 2023). Last month, she unveiled a new solo exhibition entitled ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator in London.
1. What is your earliest memory of a work of art?
I was mainly taken to museums as a child and was obsessed with the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. So it would probably be the birthstones in the minerals section, or the crystals that my grandmother would hover her hands over to “absorb the energy.”
2. Where do you turn to when you’re in need of inspiration?
Books and music. I go to see a lot of live improvised music in different places around London, and I am constantly reading fiction.
3. What do you like to do when you need to take a break from your practice?
Normal things that tend to get neglected when in the midst of making work: sleeping well, eating well, going for walks, and going dancing with friends.
4. Who is your favourite artist?
Magdalena Abakanowicz.
5. What’s the biggest crime an artist can commit?
Forgetting what it’s all really about.
5. Which gallery or museum should everyone try to visit at least once in their life?
The Sistine Chapel.
6. What is the worst thing about the art world?
I think there are a lot of different art worlds, and it’s a problem when people think theirs is the only one that exists.
7. Whose opinions on art do you actually care about?
Mainly my own, but I enjoy hearing what friends and family think.
8. What trend in art makes you roll your eyes?
Hyperrealism.
9. Who are the last three musical artists you listened to?
Gillian Welch, Whitney Houston, Fleetwood Mac.
10. What’s your favourite colour and why?
The brown-orange of drying leaves at this time of year is so beautiful.
11. What three items would you grab if your house was burning down?
Phone, photo albums and one of my grandma’s paintings.
12. What can you tell us about your show ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator?
‘I Want to Be Ready’ takes national symbols of authority and power, seeking to destruct and transform them through the acts of knotting and tearing. This simple gesture of the double knot is repeated throughout the show, a sign that transformation can occur when a basic gesture is enacted again and again.
13. Which piece in the show took the longest to perfect and why?
The wet collodion tintypes are quite laborious to make, as I go to make them in a photography studio in West London, and there is always an alchemical element of surprise in relation to how the image comes out.
15. What impression do you hope people get after seeing your show?
I hope people connect it to what is happening in the UK at the moment and reflect on not only their relationship to these symbols, but also what these symbols mean to different marginalised communities across the country.
Welcome to 15 Questions With…, a new interview series in which art writer Gary Grimes picks the brains of artists, curators and other creatives to understand what makes them tick through a series of quick-fire questions. This series aims to showcase the varying approaches creatives take to making art and how their relationships to the so-called art world differ, but also reveal what unites those responsible for the art we love.
Maya Gurung-Russell Campbell, born in 2000, lives and works in London and is currently studying at the Royal Academy Schools, graduating in 2026. She holds a BA in Photography from the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, and is a graduate of the Radical Film School. Working across sculpture, image, and text, her practice engages with both national and intimate forms of memory, tracing dominant yet fragile power structures that initially appear Immovable.
She was selected for Bloomberg's New Contemporaries in 2021 and had her first solo show, Folklore Imaginary, at 87 Gallery in 2022, which was supported by UAL's Mead Award (2022 – 2023). Last month, she unveiled a new solo exhibition entitled ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator in London.
1. What is your earliest memory of a work of art?
I was mainly taken to museums as a child and was obsessed with the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. So it would probably be the birthstones in the minerals section, or the crystals that my grandmother would hover her hands over to “absorb the energy.”
2. Where do you turn to when you’re in need of inspiration?
Books and music. I go to see a lot of live improvised music in different places around London, and I am constantly reading fiction.
3. What do you like to do when you need to take a break from your practice?
Normal things that tend to get neglected when in the midst of making work: sleeping well, eating well, going for walks, and going dancing with friends.
4. Who is your favourite artist?
Magdalena Abakanowicz.
5. What’s the biggest crime an artist can commit?
Forgetting what it’s all really about.
5. Which gallery or museum should everyone try to visit at least once in their life?
The Sistine Chapel.
6. What is the worst thing about the art world?
I think there are a lot of different art worlds, and it’s a problem when people think theirs is the only one that exists.
7. Whose opinions on art do you actually care about?
Mainly my own, but I enjoy hearing what friends and family think.
8. What trend in art makes you roll your eyes?
Hyperrealism.
9. Who are the last three musical artists you listened to?
Gillian Welch, Whitney Houston, Fleetwood Mac.
10. What’s your favourite colour and why?
The brown-orange of drying leaves at this time of year is so beautiful.
11. What three items would you grab if your house was burning down?
Phone, photo albums and one of my grandma’s paintings.
12. What can you tell us about your show ‘I Want To Be Ready’ at Incubator?
‘I Want to Be Ready’ takes national symbols of authority and power, seeking to destruct and transform them through the acts of knotting and tearing. This simple gesture of the double knot is repeated throughout the show, a sign that transformation can occur when a basic gesture is enacted again and again.
13. Which piece in the show took the longest to perfect and why?
The wet collodion tintypes are quite laborious to make, as I go to make them in a photography studio in West London, and there is always an alchemical element of surprise in relation to how the image comes out.
15. What impression do you hope people get after seeing your show?
I hope people connect it to what is happening in the UK at the moment and reflect on not only their relationship to these symbols, but also what these symbols mean to different marginalised communities across the country.
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